Well I kinda turned my shamisen into a gottan using a piece of cardboard. Silly, but audible. I figured I should record, but I don’t know why. I really messed up toward the end on this recording, but it was the best in terms of everything else =). Not a bad start at less than 2 weeks, methinks. Can’t wait until my skill increases tenfold and I can post something to truly be proud of!
…Now i get to leave the wonderful land of Shamisen to cram for physics -_- …
Haha! I do that every time I’ve finish the shamisen (pre-skinning). So excited to try it out that I stick cardboard or clipboard on top and play. 
Shape-wise, How do you like it?
You may have said earlier, but do you have previous shamisen/musical experience? Because that is mighty, mighty fine, even at less than two weeks. I too look forward to observing your rate of progression!
Bryan,
You are truly a “Natural” at playing Shamisen. Your fingers look very relaxed and you hardly need to “Look” at the fingerboard when you play! These are early indications of a Great Shamisen master in the making ! I will celebrate your progress and hope to meet you someday!
Nice, keep it up! What are you going to skin it with?
Kyle - I actually haven’t sanded down the sao as much as normal, and the saruo is still just a cubic block, so I’m not done with it yet, but the larger shape of the neck feels nice. And I have played guitar for a few years, which makes things a bit easier, but thanks for the support! =)
Kevin - You flatter me! Since I have played guitar, my fingers are more or less used to this. That being said, I have never gotten to the point where I could play guitar without looking, so that step has made me pretty happy. The thing I’m least satisfied with right now and will focus on working on the most is strumming with the bachi. Since I played guitar, my hand naturally wants to “cheat” and turn it to more of an angle that it should be. I hope to meet you someday as well; it would be an honor!
Karl - Thanks! I already have some thick calf skin I bought at mid-east, I just feel like skinning it would signify for me the completion of the instrument, so I would feel wrong doing that before I finish the sao.
That’s rad, man! Nice work on both the shamisen and kuroishi yosare bushi.
Post some pictures of the final product?
Well I’m probably not going to finish the shamisen until I finish this semester of school, but as soon as I do, I will be sure to post pictures.
cool!
I kind of liked the different tuning and the dulled down sound a bit, it gave the piece kind of a country style feeling to it!
Look forward to hear more of you!
Round 2! (Also this was only my second take today and it was already far better than my previous video =D finally marking the neck positions probably helped)
A special thanks to Anne Liljedahl for my progress! I was looking on the forums to see how everybody else had practiced it, and I learned a lot from your threads. I was getting quite a bit ahead of myself (which I still am) and decided to slow things down and make sure I am getting the rhythm with the bachi. Once I did that, the piece felt far more natural and sounded better, so thanks!
Also, thanks to Grant for your video of the same song! Most of my musical experience comes from a concert band setting, where I played the euphonium. In that setting, following the music as strictly as possible is what was required of me. From that, I have a bad habit of trying to play exactly what I see and nothing else. Grant is a far more experienced player, and his video was not just a replaying of some tabs, but his understanding of the piece combined with his personal style. From him I am reminded that not everything is about techniques or the exact notation; the musician is also a part of the music.
(I’m not saying techniques and notation aren’t important, of course)
Hey! Yeah it does sound even better! You’re getting the rhythm of the song down differently now!
Glad to be of help. I’m working on improving my bachi hand all the time. At the moment I’m looking a lot at how Masahiro, Kevin and Grant are “gluing” their bachi on to the skin in maebachi. I’m starting to get that ticking sound when being in mae bachi, at least on san no ito. A bit of playing every day really makes a difference!
I find Grant and Kevin very inspiring to learn how to improvise and not be afraid of putting your own flavor into things.
And it’s also good to get things down in the more traditional way, following the notations. For group play, just as you say.
I’ll see if I can post something before I leave for Japan. Another kuroishi wouldn’t be that bad, huh?
Awesome work, Bryan. You’re really coming along, and I’m stoked on your progress. Makes me eager to see how you’ll play in a couple months from now and/or with that thing skinned.
Keep it up!